


Surface Tension

by aircon23



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/M, Slow Build, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Will be explicit later, bender and non-bender Tahno
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-12
Updated: 2014-08-12
Packaged: 2018-02-12 19:33:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2122089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aircon23/pseuds/aircon23
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tahno messes with Korra's head before the pro-bending match. He didn't expect that it'd turn into something else.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Surface Tension

As she had insisted many times before, she still believed that mornings were evil. But, despite her hatred for the early hours, she had gone to practice with Bolin and Mako, as per usual. Mako seemed rather unimpressed with her performance today. She told him it was because she was so tired, which was at least partially true. She still didn't like seeing people be disappointed in her.

She didn't blame him for being that way, really, since it was the only thing keeping him and Bolin afloat in Republic City. Still, that didn't mean she enjoyed getting criticized -especially at this hour- because she wasn't bending quite as well as she could have been. By the end of their training session, she was about ready to knock his head off. Or perhaps she was just mad at herself.

"I just need a few more minutes, okay?!"

"Korra, our time's up. Someone else has the gym now. We'll come back, and you'll get it tomorrow," he snapped back at her. She almost didn't listen to him, but when another team entered the gym for some training of their own, she decided he was right. She had other things she had to do, anyway.

He seemed completely over her 'incompetence' about an hour later, but that didn't mean she was, too. Her training with Tenzin only made it worse, every failed airbending attempt a reminder of how much better she could be. Tenzin tried to tell her that her anger was hindering her airbending further, but that only made it worse.

She was sick of both encouragement and criticism. She already knew what she was doing wrong; they must've told her the same thing at least twenty times by now. She could figure it out, she just needed time. And silence. She needed to be alone, but where could she go?

That question plagued her for several hours, until an idea struck her at lunch.

"Mako, what team has the gym at night?" she suddenly asked.

He thought about the question for a few moments before giving her a shrug.

"I don't know. Someone does, though. Why?"

She shook her head and took another bite in response, not wanting to fight about visiting during someone else's hours. What Mako didn't know couldn't hurt him, right? She'd go tonight and surprise him in the morning. It was a brilliant plan!

* * *

The gym was eerily quiet when she arrived; her footsteps sounded like loud crashes to her without any other sounds to drown it out. She wondered if anyone else was there, but didn't bother to call out and ask. She wasn't even supposed to be here. Why bother alerting people to her presence if she could avoid it?

As she rounded the corner, she discovered that she was not alone. She saw a figure leave the men's bathroom, and head down the same hall she was about to follow. For a moment she thought the man was a janitor, due to the large, heavy bucket of water he held in each hand, the liquid splashing to the floor with every step he took. Finally peeling her eyes from the buckets, she scanned his back. He was wearing some loose black sweatpants, but his grey shirt was so tight that she could see the muscle definition beneath it, even from so far away. For a passing moment, she thought the man was probably rather good-looking. That thought left and was replaced by an urge to vomit when she realized who it was. It took her a few seconds, but finally it clicked as he flicked his head to toss the hair out of his face. That stupid wavy side-bang  _thing_ only belonged to one person that she knew of.

She almost scoffed and left right at that moment.

But she wasn't about to be deterred so easily after coming all the way here, and so she continued down the hall to her destination, hoping to the spirits that he wasn't heading to the same room. As long as he wasn't going to the same room, it didn't matter. He didn't even know she was there, right?

She swore under her breath when she saw him turn to the very room she wanted to enter. She turned on her heel and began to head in the other direction. She'd come practice tomorrow. She'd rather disappoint Mako again than spend time in the same room as that Wolfbat. Especially after that  _vile_ thought she'd just had.

" _Leaving so soon, Uh-vatar?"_

She stopped walking and tried to think of a witty response. But, before she could, the water that had splashed all along the hall began to rise, and she stepped aside so it could flow without hitting her. Her eyes followed the stream, and came to rest on Tahno. The water looped around behind him once before he pushed it all into the room and, she assumed, back into the buckets.

It occurred to her that was the first time she'd ever seen him bend.

"What are _you_  doing here, pretty boy?" she spat, currently unable to come up with a more insulting thing to say.

"Same thing you are. Though, at least I'm here  _on time_."

She was about to tell him that he didn't know what she was doing here, but that would be stupid. There wasn't much to do here other than practice.

"Where's the rest of the fire ferrets?" he asked her.

"None of your business."

"Oh? Just you and me, is it?"

She shook her head and turned to leave yet again. While she was actually surprised he went anywhere without a group of people flocking to his side, she wasn't going to spend time alone with him _._  There was no point in staying.

"Afraid you'll look bad trying to practice in front of a  _real_ pro?" he asked, a light chuckle riding the end of his sentence.

Perhaps it was silly of her, but that simple question really hit her after her disappointing day. Maybe it'd cheer her up if she could prove him wrong. She faced him and gave him a hard stare. They were too far apart for him to look down on her. While that was nice, it also meant they were too far apart for her to look intimidating, either.

Instead of answering his stupid question, she briskly walked to the girl's bathroom to prepare herself, slamming the door against the wall as she entered. She took a little longer than she usually did. She spent a little more time on preparing herself for a fight. She couldn't hit him, she knew, but she could still punch a few holes in his ego.

Those thoughts made it easier to deny that she was genuinely curious about his behavior when he wasn't surrounded by a dozen of his fans and teammates. What was he like when he was alone? Maybe he'd be less of an insufferable douche.

To find her answer, she crept down the hall to the practice room as quietly as she could. She managed to sneak to the doorway without him making any comments, so she assumed she was safe as she peaked around the corner. He wasn't even facing her direction. In fact, he was looking at the opposite wall. He had four buckets of water in the room lined up in a row, two on each side of him.

She could  _hear_  him inhale, and a moment later he put his arms out to his sides. She could see the liquid shiver under his influence, but it didn't begin to rise until a few seconds later, and even then, it only moved a few inches.

She wasn't used to seeing someone bend so  _slowly_. Maybe a few of the people from the southern tribe, like Katara, but nobody in Republic City. It seemed… almost intimate. Bending here had become quick and jarring and generally used to inflict injury. Bending wasn't about  _bending_  here. At least not to most people.

Sometimes, not even to her.

She watched him pull the water up until the four pillars became two pillars, and then they joined together at his stomach, becoming a large, swirling and turbulent sphere. He was too small to conceal the whole thing, so she could see the water in front of him like some sort violent halo, perfectly contained by its master. He turned to the side, stretching out into what she knew was a more traditional waterbending form, preparing an attack.

Finally she could see his face.

It was the first time she had seen him without some smug expression that made her want to punch him. He looked totally relaxed; eyes half-lidded and mouth curved down instead of into some twisted grin. He knew she was there, and so he turned his head to look at her, and for just a moment she could see him as he really was, without the world staring him down for their entertainment. It was strange to see him that way; he almost looked human to her. Vulnerable, as if she could hurt him if she tried.

But the walls came up again before she could even decide if she liked it or not.

The sickening grin returned to his face, and he twirled once to let the water unravel into a long whip before he sent it all flying at her face. She reached up to stop it. It exploded against her palm and dropped to the floor at her feet. She threw it all back at him, but he moved just inches to the side to avoid it.

"Can't hit each other," he reminded her.

She stayed where she was for just a little longer to make sure he wasn't going to try anything else. When it seemed that he wouldn't, she insulted him under her breath and finally came into the room. They stood a few feet away from each other, both staring expectantly.

She was the first one to be bothered by it.

"What?!" She snapped.

"Did you come here to practice or are you just here to admire me?" he asked.

"Don't flatter yourself; you're the last person I'd ever  _admire._ "

"Then bend," he demanded, kicking one of the buckets in her direction.

Irritated by his tone, she decided there was no way in hell she was about to use his water to practice. Besides that, she didn't want to show him any waterbending in case he used the knowledge against her in the match.

"I'm not here to practice waterbending," she lied, crossing her arms.

"Then what  _are_  you here for?"

"Being the  _Avatar_ ," she was sure to pronounce it properly. "I bend other elements, too."

He looked unimpressed. She frowned and turned to the targets that lined the wall. An orange glow suddenly flooded the room as she showed off her firebending, fizzling the flames before they could damage anything. She wished she could do some more impressive earthbending, but all she had were the discs they used in the ring, so she was sure to slam those into the net as hard as she could.

He watched her as she alternated between the two, and while he didn't move, she couldn't help but wonder what it took to scare him. How intense would her bending have to be for him to worry about the match? She continued, her fire getting larger and the discs flying faster with every move.

"No airbending today?"

"No!" she snapped, spinning around to face him.

He blinked once, the only hint that her anger had surprised him, before replying. "Please, continue. It's such an  _honor_ to have the Uh-vatar perform for me."

"Why don't you get off your lazy ass and do what you came here to do, then? I'm not here to entertain you, pretty boy!"

To her surprise, he shrugged and did as he was told, beginning his waterbending again. She watched him from the corner of her eye, but continued her own bending. She fell into a rhythm quickly, bursts of fire and earth whizzing by, the sound of shattering rocks and fizzling flames falling into an almost melodic timing.

His rhythm was much slower. There was almost no sound from him, except the occasional swish of fabric or liquid as he moved. For a while, he didn't even practice offence. He spent some time simply manipulating the water, and she couldn't help but watch as it danced around him. Even when he did whip at one of the targets, the loud snap it made wasn't jarring, just satisfying.

She didn't notice herself slowing down with him. It was only a matter of minutes before they were in tune. The crack of the whip, the shattering earth, the fizzling flames. They danced different steps, but the same tune guided their moves, and soon she wasn't even attacking. She was just  _bending_.

"Why are you here, anyway?" she asked, keeping her voice low.

"I'm the captain of the Wolfbats; I can come here whenever the hell I want to." he replied, his smirk growing larger for just a second.

"No. I mean… It's late; shouldn't you be out  _drinking_ or something?"

"The matches are at night," he told her.

"So?"

"Why practice without the same power you'll have during a match?"

She stayed silent for a moment, trying to understand what he was talking about. After a few seconds he looked over at her expectantly. When she didn't answer, he rolled his eyes.

"I thought  _you_ of all people would get that logic, Uh-vatar. When do  _you_ practice?"

"In the morning, like the rest of my team. You know, so we can work on the 'teamwork' part," she hissed, hoping that would crack his confidence. It didn't.

"Guess that means the Fire Ferret boy gets an unfair advantage during practice then, doesn't he?"

"What?"

"The  _sun_." he sighed, annoyed with her cluelessness. "The sun is there in the morning for that firebender teammate of yours. At night, the moon is there for us."

She didn't like the way he was speaking to her, but she was taken aback by his concern for something so old-fashioned. Nobody cared about that anymore. It was true that she could feel the difference in her firebending and waterbending depending on the time, but it wasn't make-or-break. She could still firebend well enough at night and waterbend during the day.

"You shouldn't depend on the moon to win you the match," she grumbled.

"I don't have to."

She had a feeling that at any other time, that confidence would've annoyed her. For now, though, she didn't want to care. For now, she was quite comfortable and somewhat enjoying what she was doing. It was strange practicing without Bolin and Mako. Part of their training was attacking each other. And now, she was just  _bending_  for the sake of bending, and she didn't have to worry about defense or aiming for something all that specific or—

"Heads up."

And suddenly she was catching an arch of water that was falling towards her head, and throwing all of it at Tahno with her fists, launching it in small bursts. He danced around every single one and caught them before they hit the wall; letting them rejoin the airborne river he had surrounding himself.

"You  _do_ remember you can't hit me, right?! You just said it a few minutes ago!" she snapped at him.

"Getting lessons from the firebender?" he asked her, falling back into his dance.

"So what if I am?!"

"Too bad he couldn't be the one to bail that first day."

Korra couldn't hear the tune anymore, and yet he kept dancing with the water. All she could hear was him insulting Mako.

"You're more of a firebender than a waterbender, Uh-vatar," he continued, seeing that she wasn't going to respond.

She wanted to hit him. She wanted to hit him so badly, and she couldn't decide  _why_  exactly, because he'd done a lot of things that made her want to do it. The noodle bar, insulting her teammates, and now even ruining her time here. But she could hear Bolin from the back of her mind, and she knew she couldn't.

_Save it for the ring._

And yet, even with that, she couldn't just sit and do  _nothing._ She reached forward and tried to pull the water away from him, not surprised when he wouldn't let it go. For a few seconds it shook between them, and he just smirked. When she gave it a hard yank, though, he stopped fighting. Pleased with his submission, she brought it closer to her, and he leaned back against the wall for a rest. How dare he insult her bending? She was the  _Avatar_ , she wasn't more of  _one_ kind of bender than another.

… _Well, except maybe for airbending._

That thought just infuriated her even more. She turned back to the targets, and commanded the water to destroy it.

_Crack._

She could waterbend just fine. That was her original bending, anyway. This should be her best, shouldn't it?

_Crack._

No, she shouldn't have a  _best._

_Crack._

She was supposed to master all four elements.

_Crack._

That meant she shouldn't have a favorite, right?

_Crack._

Of course, airbending just wasn't happening right now, but she'd get the hang of it eventually.

_Crack._

Right?

_Crack._

She had to. She wasn't going to be a shitty Avatar. She'd learn eventually and—

"Do you ever try airbending with earthbending stances, Uh-vatar?"

She nearly cracked the whip at his face, but managed to restrain herself. She dropped all of it to the floor instead.

"Stop talking about airbending!" She snapped.

" _Have_  you?" he asked again, sounding like he believed she might have actually done that.

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!"

"Then why do you keep waterbending like a firebender?"

"I'm not!"

"Could've fooled me."

She wondered if he was  _trying_  to piss her off. Was that the reason he kept doing this? To make her lose her cool? To get hit so he could win the tournament by default? She thought maybe it'd be a better idea to leave now before he pushed her too far. But, maybe _that_ was actually what he wanted? She wasn't sure anymore. The only way to win this game was not to play, but she'd already lost that.

Now it seemed like the best she could do was avoid doing anything really stupid.

"Did you ever consider that we might just have different styles?" she asked through gritted teeth, picking up some of the water again.

"Sure. It's just that mine is better," he replied, taking what she had left behind.

"I really doubt moving so slowly would get you anywhere in the ring."

"Of course not. You move faster when it matters."

Just to prove it to her, he demonstrated. The same dance as before, at a lethal speed. The sound it made was a weapon in itself. She had to admit, to herself at least, that it was impressive. She'd never tell him. Even so, he seemed to be able to read her mind.

"Think you can keep up with that?" he asked, dropping his water back to the buckets.

It wasn't hard to match his speed. She was good at that. Yet, as great as she was, the sound it made just wasn't quite the same. It sounded a lot weaker.

"All the power but none of the grace," he told her. "You're missing the moves."

She huffed at him and tried again. Still, she couldn't match the sound it had made. Were her movements really so different from his?

"My offer for those private lessons still stands," he purred.

"Don't touch me!" she warned, the water slapping down onto the floor again.

"When did I say I was planning to?"

Confused by that, she stayed put and let him come closer. He stopped at around arm's length, which was honestly a little too close for her. But she didn't back away. He took his stance and retrieved what he had just put down.

"I'm going to hit you with my bending if you stand that close," she warned him, matching his pose.

"You won't."

He wouldn't sink that low, would he? To get hit like this? Mako and Bolin would be furious with her if this got them disqualified. And yet, she wanted to take the risk. She wanted to prove to herself that maybe he wouldn't do something so stupid. So she let him stay as close as he was.

"Ready, Uh-vatar?"

"You don't have to ask."

"Go."

As soon as the word passed his lips, she moved. She felt his hand graze the underside of hers, but it just wasn't close enough to hinder her movements. As she twisted, so did he. Their backs nearly touched at the end, and she could feel the heat radiating off of him. She was already sweating, and that made her wonder how much warmer he was feeling. She didn't have time to think about it for long. They turned back to their original positions before trying again.

And again.

And again.

Each time their skin would just barely touch, and each time he would duck just an inch too low for the water to strike him. It sent chills down her spine. She kept expecting to feel impact. She kept expecting something more to happen, but it never did. It was almost frustrating.

"You're still not doing it perfectly," he told her after they returned to their starting positions yet again.

"What's wrong with it?" she asked, genuinely curious. This was the first time another waterbender in Republic City could criticize her bending. Katara was too far away now, and Mako and Bolin could tell her what  _looked_  wrong, but what did they know? They weren't waterbenders.

Tahno crossed his arms and took a step back, cocking his head as he looked at her.

"Do it again. But slower."

And so she did. She could see him picking out every detail that was wrong. Somehow it didn't quite infuriate her like it had earlier. She had come here to avoid criticism, and yet somehow she hoped he could help her. He was one of Probending's finest, right?

Once she returned to her original stance, he came closer. She almost backed away, not wanting him to touch her, but held her stance so she wouldn't seem weak. He reached forward and placed a few fingers under her wrist, pulling her arm up ever so slightly. He couldn't seriously be upset by such a small flaw, could he? Did that even count as a flaw? It was such a tiny thing.

Before she could ask him about it, he was sitting on his heels in front of her. Her eyes widened, surprised to see him like that. She was so lost in that thought, that she didn't notice him reaching for her foot. Suddenly he was moving her leg, and she couldn't help but grunt in surprise. She nearly lost her balance, but was able to stabilize in time.

Tahno looked up at her, slightly confused by the noise she had made. She hadn't realized quite how silly her face looked.

"Do you like me down here?" he asked, smirking as he returned to his work, moving her other foot a few inches.

"Excuse me?" she growled.

She heard him chuckle as he pushed himself up off his heels, until he was kneeling.

"I asked if you like me down here. Below you. Submissive."

Speechless, she just glared at him. It wasn't until she felt his hands running up her legs that she balled her hands into fists. Clearly sensing that he was going too far, he stopped, standing back up in front of her. He was still too close, mere inches separating their chests.

"Relax, Uh-vatar. It's a joke."

She didn't believe him, but didn't want to give him the satisfaction of seeing her lose it. She felt one of his hands pulling at her fist, trying to open it.

"Punching the water isn't what you're supposed to do here," he told her, his voice quiet to avoid upsetting her further. Reluctantly, she opened her hand, and let him smooth out her fingers until her hand was flat. His hand was surprisingly cool after all the work he'd been doing, though she thought that might just be because her blood had been boiling a moment ago.

When she felt his other hand reaching for hers, she uncurled that one, too. Once that was finished, he lingered for a moment. And then, in one swift motion, he was behind her. She stifled another noise as she felt his chest press up against her back, his hands on her waist, moving them an inch to the side.

He seemed satisfied with her stance after that. He stretched out behind her, replicating her pose. He was just a bit larger than her, and it was perfect. He could fit around her. She could feel the skin on his arms against hers as he slowly cupped her hands, testing to see if he could get away with it. For just a second wondered what it would be like to touch more of him.

The thought faded slightly before she felt his head come to rest just beside hers. As he exhaled, she could hear his breath roar in her ear, sending shivers down her spine. She stiffened, reluctantly excited by it. He felt her tense up.

" _Relax."_ He whispered, his breath hot against her skin. "You have to  _flow_  with it."

She couldn't quite relax like he told her to, but she did so to the best of her ability. She still felt stiff, but at least she felt like she could move, now.

"Ready?" he asked.

She gave a quick hum in response, waiting for him to give the signal.

"Go."

And so they moved together, though she felt awkward in this new pose. It was only slightly different than what she had been doing before and yet if felt quite alien. He moved with her, though, and she used him as a sort of template, clumsily staying inside the lines that he formed with his body, accidentally pushing too hard one way or the other quite a few times before they came to a stop, though luckily he was never quite swayed by her mistakes.

To her surprise, he didn't back away once they were finished. Pleased by this, she waited to see if they could start again. She wanted to get it right, even if it was just for the thrill of moving in synch with him.

"Again?" she asked.

"Go."

And so they danced again, and she learned the moves quickly. He continued to hold her hands, but didn't need to guide her movements after the first few times. The sound her whip made was just as strong as his had been by the end. It surprised her. She had learned quick tricks from Bolin, too, but it had been a while since she'd picked something up so easily. She couldn't help but grin as they did it one more time. When they finished, she felt him lock up, unwilling to go again.

"Was that so hard?" he asked. She could hear the exhaustion in his voice, and then she could feel the heavy rise and fall of his chest against her back. She was tired too, for sure, but it was strange to hear him like that.

"Not really," she told him, surprised by the weariness of her own tone.

Neither of them made a move to separate, though she did drop her arms down to her sides. She hadn't quite considered it yet, still basking in the glory of what she'd just mastered. She had almost forgotten who she was with, the pleasant experience blocking out her hatred of the Wolfbats.

Her temporary amnesia only seemed to get worse when she felt his breath getting hotter on her skin. He lowered his head until his lips were touching her shoulder, and then moved up against her neck. She enjoyed the cold shivers it sent through her overheated body, and leaned back into his lean frame. He faltered for a moment, surprised by the sudden weight. She felt his lips creep up into that familiar wolfish smile once he fixed the problem. She couldn't help but grin, too, letting the haze of adrenaline keep her inhibitions at bay.

She quickly grew frustrated at the way he kept just barely brushing her skin, wanting more than just the small shivers it caused. She reached up and tangled her hand in his hair, pulling his head closer until she could feel his teeth pressing at her neck. She wondered if he'd bite her, but he never quite went that far. The most he'd do is suck on her flesh, but even that felt good enough.

To her dismay, it didn't last long. He pulled away from her neck, though not too far. When she turned to look at him, though, she quickly found his mouth on hers. It surprised her, and she quickly responded by kissing him back, unable to reel in this growing curiosity that had overtaken her. How good could she feel if this kept going?

She opened her mouth and pressed her tongue against his mouth until he let her in, and she could feel his hands on her hips pulling her closer, and then he made  _such_ a delicious sound in the back of his throat and then—

And then it was gone.

Before she had time to process it, he had separated from her. He was a few feet away by the time she could finally see straight again. His hair was a mess and he had some sick half-smile plastered on his face, his eyes conveying a silent condescending laugh.

"See you at the match, Uh-vatar," he chuckled, saluting her on his way out.

**Author's Note:**

> So, I posted this on ff.net originally, planning to write a short smut-fic. It ended up turning into a weird hurt/comfort fic. However, since I haven't touched it for a year due to personal problems, I'm going to re-write the rest of the chapters and basically take this in a different (better) direction. Probably still hurt/comfort, but I'm going to try to turn it into one of those long build-up fics.


End file.
